Freelance Writing Rates: How to Set Them So You Easily Land More Writing Gigs

If you're having trouble getting freelance writing jobs - and you've been marketing your butt off - following are three things you can do to price your services just right (so you can start landing clients easily).

Freelance Writing Rates: How to Set Them So You Easily Land More Writing Gigs

Landing freelance writing jobs can seem like the easiest thing in the world some days; and other days, it’s like you could be giving your skill away for free and you still couldn’t get a client.

If you’re having trouble getting freelance writing jobs – and you’ve been marketing your butt off – following is some advice on how to price your services just right. It will make landing clients that much easier.

I’ve been a freelance writer since 1993, and I can tell you two surprising things about rates:

(i) Rarely is rate the problem when you’re not landing clients: Then, why do I mention it, you wonder. Because so many freelance writers “think” that this is the reason they’re not landing clients. And, if you think it (ie, you’re not comfortable with your rates), then it’s a problem – whether real or perceived.

(ii) The second surprising thing about freelance writing rates you should know is that many freelance writers undercharge (severely). This is much bigger problem than charging too much. Everyone gets that.

Freelance Writing Rates: Why Not Charging Enough Can Lose You Jobs

So, how can charging too little be a problem? Because clients automatically think that you’re unskilled and/or inexperienced. I’ve been accused of this a few times in my career. I actually had to defend my rate (yes, defend).

You see, when someone really wants to invest in good content, they don’t mind paying decently for it. And if you’re undercharging, there are too many others out there who charge more who they may “think” are more professional, more skilled, more in tune with what they need. So, they’ll pass you right on by.

How to Charge Just Right So You Land More Freelance Writing Jobs

Assess Your Skill: Do you have a background in the niche in which you’re writing? If so, you can charge more because you can sell that experience/value to clients.

For example, I write in the real estate, mortgage and small business niches. I’ve been a real estate agent, a loan officer (mortgage consultant) and have owned several small businesses. So I can justify my rates to clients.

Assess the Competition: No matter what your skills/experience, you should look around to see what the competition is charging before setting your rates. You don’t want to be too low or too high; somewhere in the middle will land you clients easier.

Assess Your Service Offerings: How you charge will depend on what service you’re offering. Make sure to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges when you’re doing your research on what to charge for certain services.

If you take these measures, you should have no problem coming up with freelance writing rates you’re comfortable with – and that is half the battle in landing writing jobs.